Flex

Flex is dollar for dollar money on your CUID. It's a bit like having a charge account, since the funds you put on their are charged on your monthly Columbia Bill.

Uses

Add money to your Flex account using SSOL or at the Hartley Hospitality Desk. You can use Flex to buy stuff at most on-campus dining locations, vending machines, residence hall laundry machines, and the Columbia Bookstore. You should try to use tax-free Dining Dollars at dining locations because Flex transactions are taxable. However, Flex is fantastic for purchasing your books since additions to Flex on SSOL will show up on your Columbia Bill, and therefore most likely be paid by your parents. Flex is also an alternative to cash or credit cards if you don't have one.

Off-campus flex

At least since Fall 1995, a year after Yale introduced a similar program for its students, Columbia students have been pushing for the ability to use Flex dollars at local businesses, especially restaurants. In 2003, the Division of Student Affairs even included a questions about off-campus in the Enrolled Students Survey, with a question asking which locations students most desired to have flex at. Wayne Ting made off-campus flex a central part of his 2004 CCSC election platform, even though he knew it wouldn't come to campus for years.

Off-campus flex wasn't implemented for many years largely because the CUID system uses the owner's Social Security number in its barcode and magnetic strip, a fact that was announced in fall 2004. This could allow malicious hackers to exploit any weaknesses in the system to harvest SSNs. As of 2004, Columbia was the only Ivy League University still using SSNs with it's ID cards. While security was an important concern, others observers suggested that Columbia was reluctant to consider the program in the past because it would undercut on-campus Dining Services sales.

Off-campus flex finally became possible once the university's ID replacement project was completed in late 2007. Columbia has sub-contracted implementation to BB1, with the off-campus flex system scheduled to open up at several Morningside Heights locations on April 1. Some locations have, however, started to accept flex earlier than this. Nussbaum & Wu accepts flex as of March 25.